Hyperbole
by Incept
Summary: To the forerunners we're known as reclaimers, reason? Unknown. What happens when Shield team discovers the true meaning of this term they gave us? Stay tuned to find out. R&R Please
1. Prologue

In a small room a holocron light flickered bringing to life an AI; Sentinel: MIL AI-8253. A flicker of light ran through the AI and its three centrifugal booms made a sort of "facial gesture."

He turned toward Colonel Ackerson and muttered, _"Ego constituo hostis." _

Ackerson frowned, obviously confused at the statement

Sentinel's booms spun slowly, as if computing, and had an output, "I have found a hostile; location: 52,000 miles from current location. Planet Type: 30% H2O combination, similar to Earth in construction. Large radar array, suspect large Rebel base, combat capable; triangulation of our location, imminent. Categorized as **Type 5 Threat**."

Ackerson frowned, "Wanna try to beat the around the bush?"

The booms of the AI moved towards the front, gesturing a frown. "Non sequitur, best option is to attack the base, remove the threat of the rebels. Recommended method; STARS to monitor and send SPARTANS."

The creases on Ackerson's forehead thickened, he nodded his head, and contacted the nearest ship with SPARTANS: the Andraste.


	2. Doesn't Add Up

**EDIT:**

Hey there guys, this is sort of a dull beginning in my opinion to what I have planned so bear with me please. I do rather have an interesting idea coming up, but you know..I gotta build up to it. Reviews would be lovely, as I stopped writing my other ones feeling no one enjoyed my stories... So constructive criticism please!

Oh, by the way, if you guys would like, I could make a page dedicated to the definition of the characters (i.e. their armor, specialty. Etc)

* * *

**Chapter 01  
**

Joseph opened the air ventilation on his helmet and took in a long breath, and enjoyed a moment to look at a planet reminiscent to Earth, or so he's heard.

Rachel clicked on the TEAMCOM "Joe, I just got the coordinates. We're approximately two clicks south of the supposed Rebel base."

"Alright, everyone ready?" Joe looked back towards his fellow Spartans. All HUD lights winked green.

Joseph looked down at his arsenal, Pre-standard issue DMR (Designated Marksman Rifle), M6C Magnum, and fragmentation grenades. Most of the other Spartans are using the now standard issue BR-55, or Battle Rifle, but he preferred to use what he was used to.

He exhaled and started the trek, knowing his teammates would follow in suit.

Shield team had reached the radar array, and Joseph could tell something was very wrong.

Romello turned on his mic, "T-There…is UNSC soldiers here? I thought this was a rebel…this can't be."

Something felt oddly out of place, like something didn't add up.

We approached the front gate, and a lone UNSC soldier peered over the top, there was definitely something wrong, UNSC soldiers are specifically told to keep their helmets on at all times out of buildings because of random rebel attacks, another being there was only one guard.

Joseph looked up, the sunlight reflecting off of his mirrored smoke colored visor, "Hey there, we were told of a disturbance here, may we speak to the Commanding Officer of this installation?"

"Oh, uh, right away sir." The marine opened the gate and met us at the bottom.

Hoping to break the silence, Rachel just started a slight conversation amongst the other Spartans through TEAMCOM.

"So…uh, anyone else nervous?"

There was a certain level of uneasiness and Joseph ordered Romello to stay outside and provide recon.

We were lead through the base to what I suppose to be the Commanding Officer's office. In the seat was a skinny man, I'd suppose in his fifties who looked like he's never seen or heard combat.

"So, they sent Spartans here? On what account?" The man eyed us while pulling out a cigar and cutting off the butt, sure not to lose eye contact.

"We were told that there was supposedly a rebel base here, but I guess n-"

Romello's voice came through the TEAMCOM, "Sir…those men in there…they aren't marines, I just found a pile of dead bodies, Andraste confirmed, UNSC Frigate Point Du Hoc confirms a company of marines dropped to secure station four weeks ago; no contact since. I say again, UNSC marines; stripped down. The men inside are rebels."

Joseph inhaled, thinking of how to approach this situation

"So, mind telling me who you are?" Joseph eyed down to the nametag on the uniform, **Grayson**; the eagle on his shoulders indicated he was a Colonel.

Wait, this is the Colonel who disappeared nearly a month ago, this is what happened to them? Sent down here to probably secure the base that should've been vacant, and they got slaughtered? Why are we only just starting to hear about this now?

The man calmly took a puff of his cigar, and said "I'm Colonel Grayson."

Rachel scanned his biometrics, in a way to avoid him hearing, she used her HUD light and flashed it red.

Joseph sighed, "Either tell me the truth, or I will kill you."

In a flash, Jason pulled out his pistol, yanked the man up, and held it to his head. The man sighed, "I told you, I'm Colonel Grayson!"

Jason put a bullet in his foot as a method of… 'Convincing' him.

Amidst the screaming, the 'marines' that were outside the room came running in, wondering what happened.

Jason snapped the now injured man towards the door as a body shield, "Anybody come any closer, I will put another bullet in him."

The man who was once extremely confident in his persona was now quivering, begging for his life.

"That's it, I'll give you three seconds to tell me who you are, or there will be a new wound in you. One. Two. Thre—"

"Alright! Alright-" His voice was cracking; he obviously has never been in such a situation. "Please, just don't kill me. We're from the Anarchist group; we took over this radar array in order to demand a ransom from the UNSC. Please, just don't kill me."

Kate blurted on TEAMCOM, "Should…should we kill him?"

Joseph turned on his red HUD light, as a negative, so did everyone else, except Romello.

He was puzzled, Romello was normally the merciful one, he usually stopped his comrades from killing them, this time, something's wrong.

"Romello, what happened?"

"Look at these photos via HUD; you'll change your mind."

A picture displayed on Joseph's HUD that nearly caused him to retch. Mangled bodies, some burned, others riddled with hundreds of bullet holes. Some even had multiple stab wounds.

Rachel grabbed the man out of Jason's grip and chucked him against the wall, unholstering her pistol and holding it under his chin, hand trembling.

"You sick son of a bitch, you let your men just slaughter those soldiers; stabbed them to death, shooting them without them even having a chance to fight back."

Joseph updated his TEAMBIO, and noticed Rachel was going into shock. He immediately took her and pulled her to the back of the room in hopes of calming her down. He administered the proper anti-shock medication and made sure her heart rate was going down.

"Jason, get that man, make sure he can't get away, I need to think."

Several seconds passed, and Joseph was busy thinking to myself, orders were to clear this base out of rebel forces right? If that's so, Rome kill the guards outside, while we take care of the people in.

"Rome, I need you to start taking out those guards." A green acknowledgement winked on, and echoes of sniper fire crackled throughout the building.

"Jason, kill that man. He doesn't deserve to-" Jason fired the shot before the sentence was finished, and shot the other two men paralyzed in fear.

Seconds later, the base alarm started to go off, and men started pouring out of their barracks, and quite a couple of them dropped by Rome's sniper.

Kate got on the radio with the Andraste, radioing for ODST support.

"Roger that Shield three, ETA five minutes."

"Hopefully, we can last that long against so many numbers." Jason was sounding a little nervous.

"Holy…shit. Guys, I spot about fifteen MAKO class drones approaching the premises."

Things were racing through Joseph's mind. How to take out the drones? How to keep the enemy at bay? More importantly how to survive this mess. This is no ordinary group of rebels; the funding they have is way above average; hell MAKO class drones cost nearly five hundred thousand credits, and to have fifteen? This is much more than a rebel group.


	3. Imminent Danger

**EDIT: **So you know, most of the story occurs with the Mk. V armor, though flashbacks will happen usually in Mk. IV armor or training uniforms unless stated otherwise.

Before any others questions pop up, I would like to indicate that the Spartans here are Spartan-**II**. I forgot to realize that I hadn't specified their armor type. My fault!

I will most likely be stating their armor in the next chapter, since I wrote this on such short notice, although I do hope you like it.

**NOTE: **This chapter is fairly short, reason? Read on to find out!

* * *

Romello did what seemed to do a double-take through his scope.  
"Sir, the drones...they're firing on the rebels...what's going on?"

"What? They're not theirs?"

Shield team looked out the window, watching men get blown to bits from what looked like a real life model of Colonel Ackerson's ship's AI.

Jason looked out the window, and placed a palm on it. "Hell...less work for us eh?"

Kate looked around at the battlefield, musing to herself.

Jason seemed quizzical about what was happening, "So...uh, sir. If they're not theirs, and they are doing this much damage but not seeming to be phased, this can end very badly, huh?"

Rachel looked at him "Jason, come on, don't think like that. We'll get out of here fine. We just have to wait for our moment."

Joseph didn't want to admit it, but he was right. Those...things didn't seem to be able to kill.

Joseph looked outside and sighed, "Alright, they look pretty busy. I'm pretty sure we will be able to escape as long as we don't do anything to trigger their attention to us."

Things were looking well until they reached the gate, still being held by guards.

Joseph, seeing no other option, decided "We'll have to shoot our way out."

"Uh, sir...hurry, the drones have nearly killed all of those men who ran out the barracks. Some of them were shot down, but they had shields. They seem to work like our armor shields, too much damage quickly and shields fail. Wait...what are they doing?"

"What? What are they doing? Rome!"

What Romello saw, was five of the drones starting to combine. The small ball the three centrifugal booms rotated around combined and all the booms started attaching and rotating around that ball. It steadied itself and headed towards the rear gate.  
"Oh...shit." Romello dropped his sniper rifle.  
" Get out of there now! They've combined and they're headed for you!"

Their pulses were skyrocketed, sprinting as fast as they could the Spartans headed for the gate, firing at the men who were too distraught to notice they were there.

From behind came a giant explosion, as if someone was testing artillery on their position.

"Romello! What the fuck was that?"

"Sir...th-th-that...was the drones firing at a group of rebels."

Joseph skidded to a halt, knowing what had to be done, with Rachel stopping a few feet in front of him.

She spun around, "What are you doing? They're going to catch up and kill us!"

Joseph balled his hands into fists, "You and I both know that they'll kill us all if something doesn't happen!"

Rachel looked like something snapped inside her, "Please-" her voice cracked. "Please don't do this. Please-"

"Look, you know this has to be done. Take charge of the team for me. Don't make it harder than it already is." Joseph gestured with the old spartan smile, holding his index and middle finger in a 'V' where his mouth is.

She turned around, unable to say another word, and ran off. Joseph then turned around, stood there, waiting for the enemy.

He set his COM to a single-link; to Rachel's helmet.  
"No matter what, I'll still love you." he then cut off the link, unable to keep the tears in any longer.

The sentinel cluster flew towards him, and received a few bullets as a welcome; just to be deflected off of it's shields.

The middle of the giant sentinel glowed a crimson red, and shot a beam to the ground right in front of the lone spartan, watching the lone figure fly through the sky; shields flaring at the intense heat of the beam. It then proceeded to fly back to the camp, scanning the ground for life.

Joseph turned around, and once the cluster was in sight, fired a few rounds and threw his forearms in front of his face as some form of defense against the inevitable.

He blacked out after the original blast for a few seconds, finding himself flying in the air; shields flaring and dissipating and the gel interior of his armor starting to bubble. Static flowed through the headset except for a shrill scream.

Rachel screaming "No."


	4. NOT CHAPTER: Character's Appearances

**EDIT: **Again, this is **NOT A CHAPTER**. This is what was requested by Mysterious Angel-05 and Champ11.

I will try to input the REAL characteristics of the characters through the story. This is just a list of their Armor, and any special attachments they may have.

* * *

Spartan Type : Spartan-II  
Shield Team's Color : Dark Green ( Like Woodland)  
Armor Type : Mk. V

Joseph : JFO MJOLNIR helmet, HUL-I attachments  
Left Shoulder - CQC  
Right shoulder - GUNGNIR  
Chest - Halo 3 Recon  
Knee - GUNGNIR

Custom Items: The number of the Spartan (Zane) who used to be the sixth member of their team written in red paint across his Chest piece.

Rachel : CQC MJOLNIR helmet  
Left Shoulder - GUNGNIR  
Right Shoulder - CQC  
Chest - Halo 3 EOD  
Knee - FJ/PARA

Custom Items: Equipped her forearm TACPAD with a lie detector, for interrogations.

Jacob : Commander MJOLNIR helmet  
Left Shoulder - Commander  
Right Shoulder - Recon  
Chest - Halo 3 Scout  
Knee - FJ/PARA

Custom Items: He has outfitted his external chest-piece with a thruster capable of firing the chest piece as a projectile.

Kate : (Reach) Recon MJOLNIR helmet  
Left Shoulder - Halo 3 Scout  
Right Shoulder - Halo 3 Scout  
Chest - Patrol  
Knees - FJ/PARA

Custom Items: She has placed basically a virtual chess board into her helmet, allowing her to play it when they are idle; making her unresponsive during those moments.

Romello : EOD MJOLNIR helmet, UA/HUL attachments  
Left Shoulder - ODST  
Right Shoulder - Scout  
Chest - Halo 3 EVA  
Knees - GUNGNIR

Custom Items: a shoulder-mounted 40x variable zoom scope that that is synced with his HUD in his helmet.


	5. Flashback

**EDIT: **Well, I hope this chapter makes up for the shortness of Chapter two!  
I'm sure most people will not realize this, but in Chapter 2 (Not including Prologue as chapter) Joseph is the one that signifies the 'V' while here, it is Rachel. I hope this will clear up unneeded questions.  
And...italicized words are most likely thoughts. I can't remember if I used any other italicization, and I'm way too lazy to read this whole thing a fifth time tonight. :)  


* * *

Joseph found himself zoned out when Rachel tapped him.

"Alright guys, orders are to assault that supply depot. UNSC Brass says that if we secure this major supply depot, Rebels in the inner-middle colonies will be stranded; resulting in a massive victory; cutting the projected end for the war in a quarter." This man, Colonel Roberts, was trying to inspire his division before him; raising morale between the soldiers.

"Shield Team, I need you and the 24th Platoon will secure this-" He gestured to the map. "location. Intelligence says it is undefended but is a key crossroad between all the supply depots on this planet. Spartan-094, Romello Harvey, will not be accompanying you this mission. He will be providing sniper support on our main assault on the Storage compound."

Jason started fidgeting, "This can't be right. They wouldn't leave that important of a crossroad unguarded, would they?"  
Kate shot him a glare, "Not now, Jason."

The Colonel seemed to have finished his speech. "Alright men, departure time is at 1300. Get some grub and get ready for your missions. Hooah?"  
The entire Division countered him with a single, uniform 'Hooah' back.

"First squad on point!" The Platoon's Lieutenant looked young, but these men would definitely listen to him; most of them have never seen combat. The group approached the crossroads, a giant intersection with a massive building raised above it; under it seemed like a large vehicle, but it was under netting.

They approached within one hundred yards of the building and the sounds of gunfire cracked through the air. The first squad had been decimated; sending everyone else scrambling for cover. A few exchanges of rounds ensued, and the conflict seemed to stop instantly.

The Lieutenant, unsure of what to do, signaled for the team to set up defensively and wait for reinforcements.

Kate started surveying the surroundings, "Sir? May I suggest we move towards a more defendable position? We are open to attacks on all sides, with no visual capabilities from our current loca-"  
"Who's in charge? I am. I don't need your advice Spartan." The Lieutenant growled; obviously, he didn't like Spartans.

All of the Spartans started to get uncomfortable, scanning their field of vision repeatedly. Jason spotted movement in the corner of his eye and in an instant, Hell unleashed its dogs upon them.

Men were being hit left and right as the signal to retreat was given. The quickly dwindling force of soldiers and Spartans returned to a small outpost, preparing for a deadly frontal attack.

Then, the hounds caught up with them. There seemed to be hundreds of rebel soldiers running out of the treeline 80 yards in front of the outpost. The defenders opened fire upon the men running towards them, dropping nearly all of the first wave; just for them to be replaced by force double the size.

In the background came the sounds of a diesel engine roaring to life. The defenders were down to under ten people, including all the Spartans. The Lieutenant had been killed, and all that was left were a few Privates and a Corporal.

Joseph subconsciously thought to himself as the battle ensued. Two of the four privates fell, leaving the other two in dismay. There was no way they would survive. Unless...unless someone held them off long enough for the others to escape.

"Kate! I need you to get everyone out of here!"  
Kate turned toward him, and her tone was low. "Tell that to your Second in Command."  
Joseph grunted, "Ra...Rachel." She gave him a quick glance, and resumed firing at the enemy.  
"Rachel...I need you to get everyone out of here!" She paused, lowered her weapon, and turned towards him.  
"What? You want me to take them and leave you here to die? Like hell!" She stood in her usual defiant pose; hand crossed over her chest.  
"God dammit Rachel! If we stay, and somehow manage to survive, we won't all be going home! If I survive and one of us doesn't I won't be able to live with myself!" He pointed to the name painted across his chest. She knew exactly what he meant. He blamed himself for what happened to Zane; she just couldn't find it in herself to correct him.

She had to give in. "Just...just at least...come back to me alive. Okay?" Rachel, hand trembling, lifted up her hand and formed a 'V' in front of her mouth. She turned and left with everyone else.

_Alone..._ He thought to himself. _I just wished we were closer than that. I may die alone, but I will have saved her life, and I hope Zane will be welcoming me when I get up there._

Joseph started firing on the advancing soldiers, bullets running into his armor, most failing to penetrate through the massive thickness. He never realized how close the sound of that engine had gotten. It had gotten to the point where he could feel the vibrations. Not good.

Through the back of those forces came a M-783A Main Battle Tank, a tank 25 years old, the predecessor to the M-808B 'Scorpion.'

Joseph grabbed the M41 SSR (Surface to Surface Rocket Launcher) that a dead Private dropped. He checked the breach. _One rocket. _ The only way to shoot it was to fully expose your body in order to not die from either the back blast, or some other terrible mishap.

He steadied his breath. _One. Two. Three._ He spun around the wall, firing the rocket as a staccato of .50 caliber rounds peppered the ground up to his right leg, causing him to nearly collapse sideways.

The rocket flew through the air, and reached it's target, destroying the tank. He grabbed his rifle again and continued firing as soldiers came, dropping a few more. Hearing rustling in the background, he steadied himself against the wall he was leaning on, and pointed his rifle to the source of the noise.

The helmet of an ODST came around the corner, peering to see what the noise was, gun at the ready. He stepped out, and called to his teammates. "Guys! I've found him!" Momentarily, a few more ODST showed around the corner, some taking defensive positions and firing at the remaining soldiers.

A young ODST stood there, awestruck by the sight before him. An insurmountable number of dead bodies lay before him, hell even a tank. The _thing_ that did all that damage was what seemed to be a single, bloody Spartan.

He ran to him, offering his hand. "Sir, do you need help?"

The Spartan looked at him, and proceeded to get up himself, using his rifle as a support. He then asked, "Where are the other Spartans?"

The young soldier pointed to a building about fifty yards to the south-east. There were vehicles moving around; must be the reinforcements.

"Thank you." The lone bloodied Spartan started the excruciating walk that would normally be extremely simple.

The soldier was puzzled. This man has several life-threatening wounds, but he wants to see his team members? He did not want to see a Spartan die his first real day of combat.

"Command, this is Hell Jumper Echo Squad. Requesting medical evac for a Spartan. Repeat, requesting medical evac for a Spartan, over."

Joseph had gotten about halfway, and what seemed to be inevitable came closer. The taste of blood filled his mouth, and flashes of green and blue lights winked in his vision. Before he knew what would eventually happen soon enough, he managed to say her name into his headset softly.

Rachel was leading the group of survivors away just as Joseph had ordered. She tapped onto her TEAMCOM, "Jason, contact Colonel Roberts. Tell him we need reinforcements now, the rebels had a massive force at the crossroads as an ambush. Kate, help me find a tall building."

They scanned the area, and went into the tallest building in the area, setting up their transmitter on the roof. Rachel took the microphone and set the frequency, "Overlord, this is Shield Team. We need reinforcements on our position. Requesting immediate ODST support, over."

A voice broke through the static on the transmitter, "Roger that Shield Team. They'll be landing feet first ETA 30 seconds."

_I just hope Joe can last that long. I don't want him to die without him knowing how I really felt. _A tear ran down her cheek unbeknown to everyone.

A squad of ODST landed and reported to Rachel. "Ma'am, hell jumpers reporting for duty."

Rachel pulled off her TACPAD and gave it to them. "Get to this position now!"

The Sergeant looked down at what seemed to be a GPS with a location set. "Ma'am, may I ask why? The supply depot isn't secu-"  
"Fuck that damn supply depot!" She knew she shouldn't be screaming at him, he was just doing what he was told to do, she just...couldn't help it.  
"Unless you want a fucking Spartan to die, get to that location now!"

The man suddenly realized the brevity of the situation, sprinting as fast as he could with the other squad members following suit.

Rachel, the Spartans, and the three remaining soldiers were sitting in the rubble of an old building. She waited, and waited...in frustration she threw her rifle into a standing piece of wall.

_What if they were too late? What if he's dead?_ This thought brought tears to her eyes.

Kate saw her, deciding it was time for a little talk, pulled her out of the destroyed building away from the guys.

"Rach, I know you and Joe were close but-"  
"Cl-close? Wh-What do you mean by that?" Rachel gushed, bursting with embarrassment. She was just lucky her helmet was on.

"You know what I mean. Are you saying you don't have feelings for him?"  
"I-I don't have feelings for him..." It was obvious, she and Kate both knew it.  
"I do...it's just...just he probably isn't aliv-"  
A faint voice came through her earpiece. "Rachel."

Her eyes opened wide in disbelief. She turned around and saw a lone figure with what looked to be a crutch slowly walking towards them. _It can't be! It has to be him. It has to be._

She saw a Spartan in front of her, it was _her_ Spartan, but he was a physical wreck. His armor was falling off with every step he took, and a trail of blood snaked behind his right leg. She immediately took off to grab him.

Joseph stumbled into Rachel's arms as she came to catch him. Breathing had become labor-intensive, and darkness ate at his peripheral vision. He took off his helmet and softly spoke, " It looks like I made it back alive...eh?" He chuckled for a split second just to cough up blood.

Rachel took off her helmet to look at him in the eyes, tears streaming down her face.  
"I'm not ready to let you go, please...please don't leave me yet. I... I love you. Please, don't leave me."

Joseph felt the drive that had been pushing him to get here fade away, as if what he had been fighting for was fulfilled. He could finally close his eyes.


End file.
